Autumn Walk
by Linxcat
Summary: Ten years after the DH epilogue, Pansy muses on her husband and son.


**Hey. Hope you like this. From Mrs Malfoy's (who I assume is Pansy, but you can take it how you like) POV. I know Knole Park isn't ACTUALLY home to Malfoy Manor… I plead artistic licence and do you honestly think I own Harry Potter?**

Walking along the path, on a brisk autumn afternoon, I was a little - dare I say it - _haphazard_. It had started to drizzle, and the stupid wind had teased my hair from its perfectly styled ringlets; left to hang in small curls around my ears. My jingling emerald earrings were getting tangled and knotted in my tresses, I was freezing cold, and worst of all, I'd ruined a perfectly good new pair of leather boots trudging through puddles. Why on earth had we gone on a walk around the grounds, anyway?

I swept an ebony lock from my face and thought back. When we had left the house, it had been blazing sunshine. I should have known that English sun never lasts. I think it was Narcissa who suggested we went for a walk. I jumped at the chance - Draco spends long hours at work (the ministry taxed a lot of our money so now we are only 'well off') so father-son bonding time is rare. I don't think he quite realises how much Scorpius loves spending time with him. He took him to Diagon Alley to buy a toy broom once and Scorpy raved about it for days.

Cissy and Lucius opted out after the first hill - Lucius mumbled something about a business meeting and Cissy smiled apologetically, then they had apparated away.

Wimps.

I hugged myself and rubbed my arms for warmth. I'd left my wand back at the house, dammit. No warming-up spells for me. I turned to Draco and was about to ask him if he we could go back yet, when I caught the look on his face. It was pure contentment. Scorpy had wailed so much when he got puddle-water in his wellies that Draco simply scooped him up and sat him on his shoulders. Now he was animatedly telling his father about his day, whilst Draco smiled and nodded. I eyed the muddy patches from Scorpy's boots on the expensive black jacket and hoped they would come out with a cleaning spell.

I caught myself mentally grumbling and stopped. Who was I, Mrs Ungrateful, to whinge about a little wind and rain, after a terrible war? Lucius had spent over a year in Azkaban and Draco had been forced to kill someone he knew and respected. Thankfully he didn't. Narcissa had it worst - the worry about her locked-up husband and son branded murderer eating her from the inside out.

I wrapped my jacket tighter around me and nodded to a muggle family we passed. A few years ago this had been a back garden, but when Draco and I moved in, we decided that we didn't need it and it cost far too much to keep tended. So we sold it to the muggle government and now it was a Country Park (Knole Park I think they named it). It is still illegal to poach Lucius's albino peacocks, though.

"Pans?"

I turned to the sound of the voice. My husband was grinning at me; his son perched on his shoulders, an identical (but more gappy) smile stretching his chubby face. They looked so similar it was amusing, both with red cheeks and noses and windswept white-blond hair.

"Yes dear?" I replied, directing it to both of them, more vague than I had intended. Scorpius giggled.

"Daddy said you'wre a bit away wif the faiwies today," he whispered conspiratorially, stumbling on the r's and th's. I raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at my husband.

"Oh really?"

He did not falter under my gaze, kept his arrogant smirk in place. The only thing that had changed about him since his teenage years was that he now had a son to brag about too. And the fact that his hair was receding somewhat. I tended to remind him of this when he got a little too smug.

"I've been talking to you all the way up this hill, Mrs Malfoy, and you have not heard a word I've said. You haven't been bitten by the _Gernumbli gardensi_, have you?" he drawled. I patted him on the cheek, smiling sweetly.

"I'd have thought you'd have worn a hat, sweetheart. Your head must be cold."

Satisfied with my comeback, I shared a cheeky smile with my son. He obviously didn't understand the jibe, but was giggling anyway.

"Mummy, pwease can we go home now? Daddy and me are bowf vewwy cold and it's waining too."

I looked up at Scorpy in surprise, then lowered my gaze to Draco. He gave me an affectionate smile, less like his earlier smirk, which showed he'd forgiven me for my comment and agreed with the boy.

I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow and snuggled him for body-heat.

"Have you brought your wand?"

"Nope,"

"Looks like we're walking back, then."


End file.
